Can’t Find Executives’ Names For An EECB? Use LinkedIn

Since we published our original guide to launching an executive e-mail carpet bomb in 2007, one thing has changed: social media has become a lot more ubiquitous for people who aren’t currently enrolled in college. Reader Tiana recently had the same problem over and over with an item that she bought at a regional jewelry chain, and got it resolved by contacting some higher-ups. It’s how she figured out who to write to that’s worth filing away in the consumer toolkit in your brain.

What she couldn’t find on the chain’s site were the names of its leadership, but no matter: that was available on Wikipedia. Then she cross-referenced that to LinkedIn. “I went on LinkedIn and looked up [the names I found on Wikipedia] to make sure they were still accurate,” she notes. “By going on LinkedIn, I was able to find some more people too.”

This doesn’t mean, of course, that you should fire up your LinkedIn account and spam every employee, no matter how lowly, of an organization that has wronged you. It’s helpful just the way that Tiana used it: as an adjunct to our guide to finding executives’ e-mail addresses, to help you identify the names and job titles of people who might have the power to help you.